Author Topic: Straw Chewing Banned  (Read 10796 times)

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Straw Chewing Banned
« on: February 25, 2010, 09:45:54 AM »

Offline BudweiserCeltic

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This is pretty ridiculous:

Quote
Before and during games, Carom Butler had a habit of chewing straws. Goes through about a dozen a game on average. Plastic straws. We don't get it either, but it's his thing, and as things go it's pretty harmless. Other teammates (including Dirk Nowitzki) were joining in the fun in warm-ups the other night.

But now David Stern and the league office have banned the harmless habit.

The questions are why, and why now? This is Butler's 12th year in the league and he has been chewing straws for a long, long time. This is not some new trend. And it's not like Butler is just now coming to prominence. It was fine for Butler to chew straws when he was an All-Star. It was fine when he played alongside Kobe Bryant. But now it's a problem?

The league office couldn't be bothered to put out a statement yesterday on the new blood tests testing for Human Growth Hormone -- both the NFL and MLB were all over this with top league officials speaking on the issue -- but they have the time to ban straw chewing?
http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/02/butlers-straw-chewing-banned.php

Re: Straw Chewing Banned
« Reply #1 on: February 25, 2010, 09:47:59 AM »

Offline indeedproceed

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That's nuts.

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like that is always lethal." - Evan 'The God' Turner

Re: Straw Chewing Banned
« Reply #2 on: February 25, 2010, 09:53:07 AM »

Offline wdleehi

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Carom?


12th season?



Re: Straw Chewing Banned
« Reply #3 on: February 25, 2010, 10:03:28 AM »

Offline Roy Hobbs

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Stupid.  There was an article in ESPN The Magazine lately about how he chewed straws.  Stern must have decided that straws are the most recent scourge of the NBA.

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Re: Straw Chewing Banned
« Reply #4 on: February 25, 2010, 10:11:26 AM »

Offline PosImpos

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This makes no sense at all.
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Re: Straw Chewing Banned
« Reply #5 on: February 25, 2010, 10:12:30 AM »

Offline Donoghus

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Straw chewing should really be the least of that league's worries right now.

Much bigger fish to fry...Economics, labor strife, image problems, etc...


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Re: Straw Chewing Banned
« Reply #6 on: February 25, 2010, 10:26:54 AM »

Offline Michael Anthony

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Straw chewing is gang-related ::)
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Re: Straw Chewing Banned
« Reply #7 on: February 25, 2010, 10:31:55 AM »

Offline Greenbean

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Playing Devil's advocate, it would look pretty dumb if one of these guys swallowed and choked to death on a straw. Sorry but I work in quality assurance for a toy company so choking hazards are always on my mind  ;).

That being said it is not the league's place to ban them. The team however should have a particular interest in this if they think their players are endangering themselves.

It sounds silly but if enough people do something dumb like chew a plastic straw while running around, someone will get hurt.

Re: Straw Chewing Banned
« Reply #8 on: February 25, 2010, 10:47:07 AM »

Offline Tai

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Playing Devil's advocate, it would look pretty dumb if one of these guys swallowed and choked to death on a straw. Sorry but I work in quality assurance for a toy company so choking hazards are always on my mind  ;).

That being said it is not the league's place to ban them. The team however should have a particular interest in this if they think their players are endangering themselves.

It sounds silly but if enough people do something dumb like chew a plastic straw while running around, someone will get hurt.

So basically, the league office never know about this for 12 years.

That sounds difficult to believe, but if that's really what happened, then it still irks me, but I suppose I'll lose less sleep. Not a lot of sleep, but less sleep none the less.

Re: Straw Chewing Banned
« Reply #9 on: February 25, 2010, 10:57:21 AM »

Offline guava_wrench

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Playing Devil's advocate, it would look pretty dumb if one of these guys swallowed and choked to death on a straw. Sorry but I work in quality assurance for a toy company so choking hazards are always on my mind  ;).

That being said it is not the league's place to ban them. The team however should have a particular interest in this if they think their players are endangering themselves.

It sounds silly but if enough people do something dumb like chew a plastic straw while running around, someone will get hurt.
I think he is mostly chewing straws on the bench. I would argue that chewing gum while playing is far more dangerous than what he has been doing, so that should be banned first.

This is just dumb.

Re: Straw Chewing Banned
« Reply #10 on: February 25, 2010, 11:01:43 AM »

Offline Greenbean

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Playing Devil's advocate, it would look pretty dumb if one of these guys swallowed and choked to death on a straw. Sorry but I work in quality assurance for a toy company so choking hazards are always on my mind  ;).

That being said it is not the league's place to ban them. The team however should have a particular interest in this if they think their players are endangering themselves.

It sounds silly but if enough people do something dumb like chew a plastic straw while running around, someone will get hurt.

So basically, the league office never know about this for 12 years.

That sounds difficult to believe, but if that's really what happened, then it still irks me, but I suppose I'll lose less sleep. Not a lot of sleep, but less sleep none the less.

It was probably a reaction to the whole team doing it even in mockery. The more people do it the greater the chance something happens. Heck maybe the joke on Butler got a little press and someone in the commishioners office said, "Hey when you think about it, thats kind of dangerous" and they David agreed and banned it. I completely agree that it is dumb and they have more things to be worried about. Im just trying to come up with a reason since the NBA didnt provide one.

Also, straw chewing is highly offensive in some cultures. It doesnt fit in well with the NBA's global marketing scheme.

Re: Straw Chewing Banned
« Reply #11 on: February 25, 2010, 11:02:17 AM »

Offline Cman

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Absolutely ridiculous.
But I guess we wouldn't want little kids looking up to their NBA role models and learning bad habits like... straw chewing.
Celtics fan for life.

Re: Straw Chewing Banned
« Reply #12 on: February 25, 2010, 11:13:22 AM »

Offline twinbree

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Their priorities of TIIC leave me speechless at times. So many issues that could be improved but hey at least they've tackled what was obviously a big one and banned that dastardly straw chewing habit fans have been complaining about for years. Thanks guys!
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Re: Straw Chewing Banned
« Reply #13 on: February 25, 2010, 11:31:00 AM »

Offline jpd985

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 ???  Does the NBA have nothing better to do?

Re: Straw Chewing Banned
« Reply #14 on: February 25, 2010, 11:45:22 AM »

Offline 16Bannaz

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He was drafted in 2002. How is this his 12th season?  ???